BIBLE MEDITATION:
Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Psalm 51:11
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
When a person dies, his spirit departs. And I’m afraid that’s what has happened to many churches: the Holy Spirit has departed.
The organism has become an organization and the movement has become a monument.
Dr. Carl Bates said years ago something that shook me to my foundation: “If the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die [now, of course, you know that’s impossible. He cannot die] but “if the Holy Spirit were to suddenly die, most of our churches would meet next Sunday and go right on, never knowing the difference.”
I wonder if that’s not true about many churches. The Holy Spirit has not died, but He has departed. The Holy Spirit has left the building.
I’ve been in some churches where you’d think that Hallelujahs and Amens cost $100 apiece. You just can’t find them. There’s a sort of barren stillness. But I believe there’s something contagious about the Holy Spirit of God. The Bible says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
ACTION POINT:
We don’t have to live in either one of two extremes: we don’t have to fry in fanaticism or freeze in formalism. But we should have a burning, passionate, blazing, emotional love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
